1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus in which liquids such as tap water, a cleaning liquid and a disinfectant solution are supplied to an inside of the apparatus in order to perform cleaning, disinfection, rinse and the like of an endoscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, endoscopes have been widely used in a medical field and the like. Endoscopes that are used in the medical field are used by the insertion portions being inserted into bodies especially with the objectives of inspection and treatment, and therefore require cleaning and disinfection to be used again, after use. Cleaning and disinfection of the endoscopes which are already used are performed by known endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatuses.
In an endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus as above, in order to perform cleaning, disinfection, rinse and the like of an endoscope that is already used, liquids such as tap water, a cleaning liquid and a disinfectant solution are supplied to the inside of the apparatus, and the liquids are circulated in the apparatus. The endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus performs a drying step of drying the endoscope after completion of cleaning, disinfecting and rinsing steps for the endoscope.
Therefore, when an endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus performs a series of steps such as cleaning, disinfecting and rinsing steps, and a drying step as above over a long period of time, calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate sometimes form scale to adhere to the inside of a cleaning tank and insides of respective conduits that are provided in the endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus, depending on the degree of the hardness of the tap water that is used.
Thus, the endoscope cleaning apparatus for removing the scale adhering to the inside of the cleaning apparatus and the like is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-10115, for example.
The endoscope cleaning apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-10115 has an electrolysis tank that can generate alkaline water and acid water by electrolysis, and an alkaline water tank and an acid water tank that can supply and store the respective alkaline water and acid water generated by the electrolysis tank, and is configured to supply acid water from at least one of the electrolysis tank and the acid water tank temporarily to the alkaline water tank to dissolve the scale adhering to the whole or part of the inside of the alkaline water tank.